Bienvenue! This is a blog about a Catholic, Cajun family: our lifestyle, our faith, our culture, our learning experiences, and our interests. Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoy your stay.

"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril

Praying for Matthew Karol

Prayer During Hurricane Season

Prayer for Hurricane Season

O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.
Originally dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Audrey in 1957.
- Fr. Al Volpe, Cameron Parish, LA

Cay's 2009 Literature List

Catholic Homeschool Magazine

Twitter Me

Prayer to End Abortion

Prayer to End Abortion
Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Get ready for the new school year with a dose of Mommy-medicine/meditation.

If you're looking for inspiration, encouragement and ideas for the upcoming school year, you'll want to check out Mater et Magistra Magazine. It's a magazine for Catholic Home Educators and offers columns concerning:

June 11, 2009

"I stand alone at the hospital window looking down. Votive lamplights burn their nighttime vigil over a parking lot devoid of white horses and golden chariots, no gladiators or princes to ward off the phantom who silently glides out the back door, no hope of happily ever after. It’s just me and the parking lot, a gaping carless receptacle where earlier I could not find a single space to park my car. It now stands like the catacombs of old, mournfully vacant.

There is no life, no beckoning, no forward motion; only stillness and darkness that lingers. Oil spots anoint the parking spaces of healers and ministers.

A car passes on the road beyond, then three. A car turns into the vacant parking lot, then two. The car shifts, quivers, purrs, then stills. The headlights flicker and go dim. Silent, reverent figures walk across the parking lot and enter beneath the moth-enshrouded lights. It is not a place one comes willingly, I know. These are not the family troubadours who have come to herald new babies into the family. Those will come later in the day. These visitors are the soldiers, the family warriors, who have come to cradle, cleanse, comfort, and console the body of Christ. They come to renew, refresh, and revive those who kept watch at Calvary.

In the whisper of a moment, life enters this house of suffering and death. Dry coffee grounds are scooped and poured. A coffee burner clicks. A hiss. A sigh. Morning incense wafts upward and steals outward into the hall to greet me.

A voice is heard down the hallway. The elevator beeps, lurches, rumbles. A slow grind announces its ascent and its sleepy eye welcomes the new arrivals. Everything, dead and silent only moments before, is now awakened and breathes a new day.

June 08, 2009

The other day I was taking the leftover birthday cake to the trash. A week is all I can take of sticky sweetness. Evidently my family's teeth aren't as sugar-happy as I thought.

Annie and her little friend spied me on my way to the dump and begged for that chocolate cake. I paused. The water sprinkler whirled. The cement slab sang with colored chalk. Damp ringlets paddled around Annie's face. Summertime was here.

With Bill Cosby's permission, I handed those children the rest of that cake along with two white plastic forks.

"I had bacon, sausages, and eggs all lined up when my four-yr-old arrived, looking so adorable with her cute face and little braids.

" 'Morning, Daddy,' she said.

" 'Okay,' I said, 'what do you want for breakfast?'

" 'Chocolate cake,' she replied.

" 'Chocolate cake? or breakfast? That's ridiculous.'

"Then, however, I thought about the ingredients in chocolate cake: milk and eggs and wheat, all part of good nutrition.

" 'You want chocolate cake, honey?' I said, cutting a piece for her. 'Well, here it is. But you also need something to drink.'

"When the other four children came downstairs and saw the four-yr-old eating chocolate cake, they wanted the same, of course; and since I wanted good nutrition for them too, I gave each of them a piece.

I am thinking. . . about keeping the summertime tranquil and unplanned.

~ ~ ~

I am thankful for. . .various family members who made it home safely from Colorado and cruise trips...and had a great time!!!

~ ~ ~

From the schoolroom. . .Reading and Teaching Textbook Math continues through the summer. I had a few thoughts last night on some creative copywork...if I could only remember that brilliant idea this morning!

~ ~ ~

From the kitchen. . .planning some outside picnic suppers this week.

Tonight's menu:

baked boudin

BBQ spareribs in the slow cooker

fresh cucumbers from the garden

There are plans to bake Daddy some fresh chocolate chip cookies today as well. He's had a hankering for some.

~ ~ ~

I am wearing. . . my royal blue nightgown...still honoring that first day of summer vacation.

~ ~ ~

I am creating... lots of Louisiana History plans for next year's co-op class. The children are excited. I'm excited.

Fr. Alexander Schmemann wrote, “I think God will forgive everything except lack of joy; when we forget that God created the world and saved it. Joy is not one of the components of Christianity, it’s the tonality of Christianity that penetrates everything.”

~ ~ ~

Observing the Liturgical Calendar...Being lazy this month. There are plans for a VBS, if I get the information form and get the girls registered in time.

On a personal note, I still don't have my June Magnificat...haven't had time to get to the Catholic bookshop. So I've been praying chaplets in my spare time.

One of my favorite things. . .Summertime Saturdays, beautiful, beautiful weekends spent at home with family, and lots of Sunday soccer games from dawn to dusk with a handful of players and only a handful of rules.

And my brother-in-law bringing us two or three fresh cucumbers from the garden every morning.

~ ~ ~

A few plans for the rest of the week. . .It's all about simple this summer. Things have slowed down. Joyfully so. This week we have dance lessons (prepping for end of month dance recital), babysitting class and baseball pizza party for Chelsea, and swimming...lots of swimming. My older three have full work schedules...which is not a bad thing in this economic day-and-age.

~ ~ ~

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

the newest little Gibson cousin you all prayed into being. She arrived very tiny but very healthy and very beautiful. Thank you!

(May/December???) Kayleigh's college graduation (she's going for nursing now so this graduation date is unpredictable)

(June) Oma & Opa's 50th Wedding Anniversary

On top of these plans, Corey will graduate from college as well. Since he works full-time and attends school part-time, any dates would be hit and miss so I will just wait with joyful anticipation over the official year...and be glad when it comes.

I have already instructed the older two that no wedding plans can be made in the next three (possibly four) years. I mean, they don't want me to lose my mind, do they?

We had some friends visit our garden the other day who said it was even more impressive in real life than on the blog. That was heart-warming to hear because my husband and brother-in-law have really put their heart and soul (and sweat) in this production and it blesses all of us...abundantly.

We hear of so many first year gardens that don't do well. For all those who have asked, we keep our eyes peeled on the LSUAgCenter.com site. Of course that's local for our crops and won't work for other states but each state should have their own site to peruse.

The eggplants are reaching maturity.

Eggplant Casserole...yum!

Here's a picture of Annie enjoying a carrot.

The carrots are still quite small but...what the hay!

One must sample them when inspecting the garden to see how well they are growing and the only way to do that is to pull it up and once it's pulled from the earth we can't waste it...now can we?

And our blessed crop of watermelons...my favorite fruit. I was worried about these babies. Took forever to grow and sometimes the small ones disappear. We're suspecting squirrels. Such thievery! Our crop is small but we have about seven or so watermelons that are coming along.

We're hoping these little beauties are ready to enjoy by the 4th of July family get-together at Toledo Bend.

Cucumbers, my fav vegetable, are coming along nicely.

And the tomatoes! Oh, the tomatoes! I think we planted too many tomato plants. We have so many little green tomatoes. I'd be happy to share some with the squirrels. :-)

Tomatoes with their marigold-buddies (keeps the stink bugs away).

Annie plucks the first tomato of the season.

*Note: always set tomatoes to ripen upside down on their stem. This prevents soft spots from developing.

My husband thought it strange that I was taking this picture, but he doesn't understand blogging etiquette. LOL

The bags to the far right are leaves. We use these for mulch and to spread between rows to prevent excessive weeding.

Edited to add: The white trellis is 5-yrs-old and never been used. My husband made them when we lived at our other house and always planned to make a garden arbor and seat with them. Never happened. I think the plan now is to make an A-frame and use them for the cucumbers.

Thanks for stopping by. This gardening adventure wouldn't be nearly as fun if we didn't have friends to enjoy it with us. :-)

"The bubbles popped and crinkled their fragrantly smiles upward along the peach-colored tile. My notebook and pen sat ready and waiting for my reflections, as did my fresh cup of coffee sweetened with cream and sugar. Kathleen Norris and Sarah Ban Breathnach promised me counsel. It was all so inviting and intimate.

"Then the phone rang.

"It was my oldest son on his way over the bridge to a college final. He needed to hear a 'friendly voice' before meeting his assumed doom. The poor child suffers text-anxiety. Passing the class hinged on this final test grade. Never a good thing.

“ 'I need prayers, Mom.' It was the voice of someone on his way to the guillotine."

* On a side note: Corey passed the exam with 88% (giving him the added reward of dropping his lowest test grade) which resulted in his completing the course with a high B average. He has a 3.7 GPA at the moment. We are very happy and very proud! :-)

June 01, 2009

My girls' little cajun cottage under the solemn oak trees sits rejected and forlorn. I think they need to hire a maid and a gardener.*

*I see no signs of them having hired the maid or the gardener. At least they shut the door so I don't have to witness it.

~ ~ ~

I am thinking. . . about writing projects this summer.

~ ~ ~

I am thankful for. . .life and good health...and a very lovely birthday girl.

~ ~ ~

From the schoolroom. . .we didn't exactly "finish" every last plan or workbook page but we are finished enough to call it quits. The learning cabinet has been cleared out and cleaned out. Local used book sale is next week! Book baskets have been sorted through and re-organized.

Reading and Teaching Textbook Math continues through the summer.

~ ~ ~

From the kitchen. . .

Breakfast: Red Gravy & Country Ham Grits

Lunch: Mac and Cheese

Supper: Taco Salad

Dessert: Chocolate birthday cake still in the kitchen

I'm also planning a 2-week summertime menu rotation. I want cool, simple meals to fix this summer. So far I have:

Supreme Taco Salad

Ranch-Bacon Pasta Salad/Ham-Roast Po-Boy Sandwiches

Chicken Salad & Tomato Florentine

Chicken Monterey & German Potato Salad

Tacos

I'm still coming up with some cool summertime meals and am open to any simple, simple, simple ideas.

Stay tuned for a complete menu rotation.

~ ~ ~

I am wearing. . . my royal blue nightgown...in honor of the first day of summer vacation.

A few plans for the rest of the week. . .It's all about simple this summer. Things have slowed down. Joyfully so. We have only one ballgame, two dance practices, and one evening of soccer practice this week.

May 30, 2009

After Julie Bogart wrote her blog post On Being a Mother, she said she received more emails and comments to that post than she ever had before. She received affirmative, supportive and appreciative comments as well as others:

"There were comments and emails too, though, from those who are on the outside looking in, feeling that mothering really is a hardship, that they don’t enjoy the company of their children, and worse, feel guilty about it. Guilt for something you can’t control is the worst feeling you can possibly have." ~ Developing a Philosophy of Mothering

But one question, which Julie focuses on in her post, made me think long and hard about my own overall outlook on mothering, parenting, and feeling at odds with the world.

Lizzy wrote: "I wonder, Julie, what or who it was that helped you develop your perspective. Was it your own mother? Was mothering a dream you’ve had since you were a little girl? Are you one of those folks who has read ‘all the books’ for inspiration?"

I'm hijacking this for my own thought-process and discernment; not to take anything away from Julie's discussion.

I believe my primary vocation has always been to be a good wife and a good mother. Mothering was indeed a dream I had since girlhood. It was a dream carefully, silently guarded and wrapped around my heart.

Even today, I hope my family remembers me as nothing but Mark's wife and Corey, Kayleigh, Garrett, Chelsea, and Annie's mother. That will be a stellar legacy.

Some who read this might shake their head in disbelief. No ambition! No self-confidence! No sense of worth! That's what they might think; oh, but if they only knew. If they only knew my secret.

If they only knew that it is because of my children that I have a voice at all. I have learned to stand up in a world that likes to quiet parents. I have learned to stand up to school systems who like to make parents feel inferior. I have learned to stand up to doctors concerning all sorts of things.

If they only knew that it is because of my children that I have a surging desire to be a better, kinder, more understanding, holier person than I ever was before.

Ambition? I am better educated and more knowledgeable since I had children. There is no longer any mountain I will not climb. Okay, so maybe I shirk on roller coasts but you should have seen me this past week when a certain 7-yr-old asked me to ride with her.

Self-confidence? Self-worth! My confidence soared when I became a mother. I took on a vast and alien world when I became a mother. I learned patience and fortitude and things that only potty chairs, broken crayons, and enemas can teach a person. It is because of my children that I learned my self-worth was not about how much I had or how pretty or thin I was. I never was pretty and I'm no longer thin but my self-confidence is at an all-time high.

I always wanted to be a mother and I have seen my dream come true. God has blessed my husband and me very generously.

I loved being pregnant...even during a problem pregnancy, bedrest with my second baby, and a miscarriage...I adored the whole look, feel, and experience of it.

I loved having babies in the house...even sleepless nights, earaches, bellyaches, spit-up, and teething. I've had twenty-two years of blissful parenting.

But, I didn't always act like it...or say it. Sometimes I still don't.

I am not only surrounded by a culture who finds children inconvenient, but there are family members who view children as a burden and chore. I was born in the 60's. Our middle name was 'cynicism."

Early in my parenting, I felt I had to bend to the world's expectations, at least on the surface. I had to admit that:

yes, I was tired

yes, he was a whiny baby

yes, children are a lot of work

yes, I didn't have much free time for myself

yes, it'd be nice when I could go out to the movies and dinner without children to tend to

How shallow of me to cave to the more popular belief that my life would be better and more fulfilling when these children were no longer small and needy. Hadn't I prayed for God to send me children since I was old enough to remember? Hadn't I prayed that all my children would stay safe and warm and healthy inside of me until time to be born?

I began raising my children with the tough parenting mold which seemed to have been the wisdom of Dr. Spock. As a sixties baby, that parenting generation was my model. When my third child was about three years of age, I realized that I was not enjoying myself as a parent much. The older generation probably would have told me that parenting was not meant to be an enjoyment. It was a duty. Chin up! Deal with it!

What type women came out of this generation? Here are a couple of examples:

Once I heard a women, upon hearing that someone else was pregnant with her third child, suck in her breath and exclaim, "Her life is ruined!" with all the gall and venom that the serpent attacks the child. I know another mother who, upon finding out she was pregnant in her forties, was told by a friend, "I'd rather have cancer than be pregnant."

I know and see these two mothers today. There lives were not...are not...ruined. Far from it.

So I did not exactly trust the view or image of the older generation when it came to raising children.

And I didn't worry about their view; I worried about my children's. How much more distasteful were my children viewing me? Would I struggle to have a relationship with them once the leaky diapers, snotty noses, the cries, the spills, the whines, and the demands were things of the past?

I decided that relationships begin in the here and now...never in the future. It was during this time...during the leaky diapers, snotty noses, cries, spills, whines, and demands of three very young children...that something changed, and it wasn't my children.

I realized that it wasn't just the children who were selfish and self-centered, crying and whining, demanding and grumpy. I was worse...way worse.

Instead of expecting them to change, I began to change. I began looking at this job of parenting as a joy and a blessing. I began looking at it as a vocation rather than a job. This was not a class to be graduated from or a job to retire from. This was a lifetime commitment. My younger children are being raised with more flexibility and less enforcement, but I can't say they are any worse (or any better) than the older ones who were corrected before they even thought of what disobedience they were going to commit that day.

As Julia Bogart wrote on her blog: "Yes, there have been nights where I cried myself to sleep over a non-stop crying toddler or a teenager’s emotional pain. There are times when I feel out of control and invisible and fearful for my child’s future or welfare. But the rewards of mothering so far outweigh any of its challenges..."

There are still days I get upset over a sassy mouth or cry out in despair over a unthoughtful teenager. I worry, counsel, and pray over my children. They disobey. They sin. They argue. They fall. They tarry.

So do I.

But I never loose sight of the vision: the beatific vision of God when all things will be explained to me, when His all-powerful plan will be shown to me, when all these things will fade into nothingness in the beauty of His vision which, for now, only He sees and I do not.

I also never loose sight of the knowledge that these children who argue and mess-up and skip out might, just might, get to Heaven quicker than me. They might become saints who go straight to heaven while my sentence might demand a heftier penalty handed down by the judge.

My focus is to trust in God's vision for me and my children. My duty is to be open to his will in my life. My vocation is to never loose sight that these children are God's, not mine, and they are only on loan to me for a short time. My only job, really, is to lead them to Heaven. It really isn't about neatly made beds, chores done on time, or math lessons learned...though I concur that these disciplines are the tools that teach servitude and proper use of God's generosity in our lives.

My view of parenting and the logistics of raising children has changed with each child. It is true that with each child God teaches you a little more patience, a little more compassion, and a little more spirituality. In the end I find that the graces and blessings God gives us to raise the souls He entrusts to us are far greater than anything we are given before we have our children. Only a true Father knows this. Only a true Father teaches this.

There is nothing better or packed more full of virtue and wisdom than being a parent.

I am thankful for. . .a husband who, on his day off, brings the computer to co-op and sets it up just so everyone can see our daughter's Louisiana History video presentation (which we were never able to transfer onto our laptops).

From the schoolroom. . .we were going to wrap up the school year this week and finish it all by Friday. Looking at my "few plans for the rest of the week", this will prove to be a miracle if it happens. Woe is me!

From the kitchen. . .shrimp fettucini, buttered corn, Texas toast, garden-fresh cucumbers/squash for 11 people. It's a lesson in portion-control for the four teenagers involved.

Dessert: Chocolate cake that Annie won in the Family Reunion Cake Walk

Observing the Liturgical Calendar... May is all about Mary. Plans are for:

May altar

May garden

May crowning

I plan to share pictures. Soon.

Around the house. . .I'm too tired to look. One day it's clean. Another day it's cluttered. Let me just say...'tis lived in.*

* This has not changed since last week's daybook or the week before that or the week before that.

I really thought after April things would slow down. They haven't. If anything life has gotten busier. Yesterday I added five more things in my planner.

I have to remember what a good friend told me one day at co-op:

"We pick our own stresses in life."

I have to look at each "stress" I write in my planner (no one is forcing my hand) and count them all as blessings. It's a life full of planning and preparing, giving and receiving, loving and living, pruning and growing, learning and embracing.

It's all good! It's a marvelous thing called life!

One of my favorite things. . . full schedules and unfull schedules.

A few plans for the rest of the week. . .

Monday: Last day of co-op for junior/senior high classes

Tuesday: Blue Bayou waterpark w/ 4-H (incase of rain we'll just head to the movies)

Wednesday: Marian Tea Party hosted by my good friend Grace

Wednesday night: Mother's meeting to discuss elementary co-op plans for 2009-2010 school year

Phases of Womanhood

House Prayer

(Adapted from Our Lady of the Oaks Retreat House Prayer)

God our Father,
Open our hearts to your Presence.
Open our minds to your Guidance.
Open our lives to your Love,
Through the intercession of Our Lady
Bless us, bless our family and our home.
Make us an instrument of your peace
And a sign of your presence.
Unite us to your Son, Jesus, in such a way
That all who see and know us may see and know Jesus.
By our unity to Him on Earth, Unite us to Him
Forever in Heaven.
With faith and confidence
We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ,
Your Son, our Lord.
Amen.